Just because you don’t hear about something, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. Because tragically, too often, boys and men suffer in darkness. There is perhaps no better example of this than the horrific actions of Boko Haram, and the countless boys and men they have taken, without trace, and to very little outrage. For it is not just the education of women and girls that the group are implacably against, Boko Haram are against all Western education, for all people, including men and boys. For years they demonstrated this through enacting unspeakable war crimes onto innocent Nigerian men and boys, often releasing women and girls, and for years they were ignored by a disinterested world. Boys disappeared. Men were killed. Nobody said anything. And certainly nobody especially important. Then things changed in April 2014, when nearly 300 Nigerian girls were taken, and the world woke up to what was going on. Celebrities marched the red carpets, political leaders spoke up, Michelle Obama fought for justice, god damn, we had China and America working together for once. #bringbackourgirls rang out, as it should, and the much awaited outrage and long overdue horror finally took flight. Most of the girls were saved, and the world went about its business as usual… The following three years saw not 300 boys taken, or 500… but 10,000, and as before, silence reined supreme. So who will speak for these forgotten boys? Who will bring back all Nigeria’s children? ~ Study Images by Kiwi Hug and Codioful

2023-09-21